Steveston Marine & Hardware

I’m older now, wisdom hasn’t been forthcoming but a low tolerance for bullshit and the assertiveness to confront jerks arrived with gusto.
I had just come from Windsor Plywood. What follows are the conversations I had these two establishments. I like to think of it as a depiction of good vs. evil.
Dan: Hey there. So, I’ve made a shoji screen for my shoe closet to keep my kittens out. Problem is I underestimated their tenacity and they circumvented my simple sliding bolt.
Windsor Plywood Guy: I see. Yeah, cats are smart.
D: Yeah I’m proud and annoyed at them at the same time. I guess I’ll need a mechanism to lock it. Problem I’ve got is the moulding where I’d put the lock has a narrow profile. And it doesn’t have to be a lock that locks but something that requires opposable digits to manipulate. (I show him a picture of my contraption.) I’ve got the word «hasp and staple» stuck in my head for some reason but –uh what is a hasp and staple?
WPG: Well this here is a hasp and staple. Not sure we have one that will fit on there.
D: Yeah they’re pretty wide. Ah! (I point at a row of barrel bolts) THIS is what I was thinking. Barrel Bolt!
WPG: Yeah! That’s what I was going to suggest!
D: They all look too wide though. And I was hoping for brass. I spent a bit of money on decorative hinges and the latch so I’d like it to match.
WPG: Of course. Doesn’t look like we have anything in brass or with a narrow enough profile. You know who might have something is Steveston Marine.
D: Cool. «Barrel Bolt.» Thanks.
WPG: Shoji screen eh? Those are complicated. Good work. (He literally pats me on the back.)
Receiving praise for my craftsmanship and design from a man who knows what a gasket is was a boost to my self esteem, especially after being outsmarted by cats. I walked with my head held high to Steveston Marine.
From hero to zero.
The store looks post apocalyptic. Half of the fluorescent fixtures are turned off or burned out. Some flicker eerily. The shelves look as though they were looted. Parts of the store are roped off and there are crummy handwritten signs dangling from strips of tape. The products on the shelves are sometimes sticky, sometimes dusty or even both at the same time, the plastic wrap having turned brittle and yellow many years ago.
Some guy who looks like Lawrence Krauss walks past me a few times. I try to make eye contact. He’s adept at avoiding it.
Dan: Excuse me. Hi, do you have any (uh oh, the word «barrel» escapes me) uh bolts, but the kind that… uh
Steveston Marine Guy: They’re over there. (He points to the back wall.)
D: I don’t need a regular bolt but a… a… (damn what’s the word I’m looking for?)
SMG: (sarcastically) Why don’t I show you what we have? (He walks over to the back wall and starts sliding and slamming the cabinets around. Grabs one off the shelf and shoves it in my face.) Bolt!
D: Yeah I mean one with a locking mechanism thing on it. Like for a gate.
SMG: «Barrel» Bolt!
D: Yeah that’s it. Thing is I need one in brass and…
SMG: (He ignores me and walks over to one of the aisles.) Just what you see here. We have nothing right now.
D: When do you get shipments in? (Surely soon. Half the pegs are empty.)
SMG: (He rests his foot on the empty basedeck beneath the shelving) We get stuff in all the time.
D: Okay. Thanks. I guess I’ll check back.
SMG: (Shrugs.)
I stand there and ponder a plan B. Hmm maybe I can rig something using this clasp and… that would look good but I’ll need to find a way to adhere it to… I guess I could turn it vertical.
SMG: Sold out.
D: Yeah (I reply vaguely) I’m just seeing what else might…
SMG: Gone. None. Nothing here. Empty. Eeeeeemmmmpppptyyyy…
D: (seriously? I stand there stunned for a moment.) I did comprehend. I speak english quite well you know.
SMG: Just saying it slower. Sometimes people don’t get it.
D: No you weren’t just saying it slower. You were mocking me. (Lawrence Krauss himself would never be so condescending and he’s a theoretical physicist.)
SMG: (For some reason he walks a few feet down the aisle and finds a product that he thinks may help or at least placate me.) We have something here that might work.
I stand there motionless and smirk. Dumbstruck.
SMG: Well you gonna come over and take a look or what? (We waves some gizmo in a dusty package at me.)
I turn my back without replying and walk out calmly. Then I can’t resist any longer, besides, the high road is for suckers. I shake my head and mutter: «Shove it up your ass.»
Now, am I proud of myself for telling this guy to shove a barrel bolt up his ass? No. Am I ashamed? I know I should be but the befuddled expression on his face and his feeble «hey!» as I exited was a little gratifying.
To make amends I’ll give the poor guy and extra star. And if you see a guy that looks like Lawrence Krauss walking funny ask him if he knows where you can get a barrel bolt. He may have one within reach.

Had a horrible experience there. I tried to return $ 200 of products I received from my wife as a present, which I could not use. She had bought them & they have a 14 day policy to return for a full refund, which I was late on because I wasn’t aware of it.
But they have a WRITTEN return policy at their checkout which states a 15% restocking fee if returned after 14 days. They refused any me any credit & would not accept the return, even though I had the original receipt & both products were in their original packaging. When I approached the manager for help, he ignored me & refused me any credit.
This is a lame business, that does not stand behind their products, nor their own WRITTEN return policy.
Don’t support an unethical business who doesn’t even follow their own written policies!

No call backs, no inventory for advertised products for sale, after I had paid they told me they didn’t have the part. They then told me they would figure something else out for me. I called back 3 – 4 times and no one knew about my previous calls and they all kept trying to get me to pay for the original item again a second time even though they didn’t have inventory on the first one.
This place is a total nightmare, I hope they go out of business

the service here is pretty much the lame-​est you are likely to find. the staff basically doens’t give a crap if you buy anything. the sore is a gong show wrt organization. prices for the same item may differ from one package to another. the manager guy just sort of shows up whenever yet no one else is empowered to make decisions during his absence. in short, the ONLY reason this place exists is because it is near the water where peope have boats.

I visited the store that is also located in Steveston, Richmond. I have to give them props for being so professional and helpful when I visited them for pest control products. Lynn (spell?), a gentleman who works there, helped me and told me what to do as far as trying to control the problem I was having since noone else really seemed as worried as I was about it. He was super honest and upfront about what everything I was buying does and what to expect. He was a wealth of knowledge and was well mannered and kind. He listened to me vent about the problems I’ve been having and he totally understood and gave me tons of advice. He really went above and beyond. I will always support my local businesses and will give recognition when it is deserved. I will buy all my home remedy items from Steveston Hardware going forward. Companies like this are around for this long for a reason!

I’m a big fan of spending my dollars at local businesses and avoid West Marine where possible. But Steveston Marine is so frustratingly useless that if your time is worth anything, it creates more hassle than it’s worth. Besides, Steveston has a US store so I’m not convinced that they are Canadian (given their mediocrity, I gave them the benefit of the doubt).
Aside from the insufficiently few knowledgeable staff that can provide some assistance, the online experience is shocking and their product quality is poor.
This place needs new ownership/​management that will overhaul the layout of the store (it’s a chandler, we’re not talking the highest standards here!), revamp the website so that customers can shop and browse online, and invest in staff that will be proud and loyal employees. If they market themselves as the Canadian (viable) alternative to West Marine, they should have no problems stealing market share.

This place is a Horror Story with all the Classics-​dirty confusing store layout, sullen dimwitted staff, mendacious managers, the cheapest goods imaginable marked up beyond belief and absolute misery for a return policy.
There are dozens of better run retail operations selling similar goods in Greater Vancouver and this sad sack excuse for a retailer has only themselves to blame for their empty store-​even @ the height of the boating season their parking stalls are barren and their store is akin to a funeral home.
The fishing department in particular seems to be run by someone who’s never actually been in a boat-​the junk on sale is below entry level-​just the crappiest of everything for even more money than the big operations-​who at least carry popular brands.
Abandon Hope if you need frozen bait-​the stuff Steveston is flogging is such poor quality I don’t think a Seal would eat it.

Only a block away from West Marine, it’s easy to support local by shopping at Steveston because anything you can’t find here you’ll probably get down the street. But that most likely won’t be necessary because Steveston has a great selection of high quality boating goods at decent prices. I got a pair of $ 200 deck shoes here for $ 80 (they’d stocked up on white Sperrys for RVYC sailpast, but turns out these particular shoes weren’t white enough for yacht club rules, so they were getting a ton of returns). Haha sweet deal for me though!
I got a wicked walking stick with hidden compass and shot glass inside here that I’d never seen before. My olé man swoons for quirky gadgetry.
One dislike: the staff person helping said she couldn’t comment on the usefulness of most of the items I was considering because she isn’t actually a boater herself, much less a sailor. Not so workable to have staff at a boating store be clueless about boating, but hey, she was nice and attentive so no hard feelings.
I always check Steveston first when looking for sailing gear. Go local!